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Sol Feinstone Collection

Sol Feinstone Collection

Sol Feinstone, philanthropist, collector of Americana was born in Lithuania in 1888 immigrated to the United States in 1902 at the age of fourteen and died in Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania on October 17, 1980. With no elementary or high school education he first entered the University of Missouri, transferred to Syracuse University where he received a bachelor's in 1915 and master's in 1916, degrees in Forestry and spent two years at the University of Pennsylvania in their graduate chemistry department. He began collecting American historical documents in the mid-1920's and became a major contributor of patriotic causes. His many contributions included the establishment of American Revolution libraries, scholarships, lectures, and wrote many pamphlets and several books. In 1974 he received an honorary doctor of law degree from St. Lawrence University. He was a major contributor of SLU by establishing a lecture series, an annual alumni Award and American Revolutionary material, i.e. books, manuscripts, letters and other materials. He had careers as a chemist, teacher, and farmer but his fortune came from real estate investments and construction projects. The collection consists of autographs of various people throughout the world, a collection of correspondence and documents of Robert Walpole, collection of Shakespeare related materials, manuscripts signed by noteworthy persons (George Washington, Charles Dickens, Albert Einstein, Washington Irving and others). Also included are materials (lectures, pamphlets and books) by Feinstone, writings of family members, photographs, and copies of lectures on freedom by noted scholars.